USAF Happening This Morning

 One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen will attend one of the largest aviation events in the world this week...at 101 years of age.

 

The Washington Post reports:

"One of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, (Brig. Gen. Charles) McGee was setting off with friends and family on a private plane to EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, where the barrier-breaking retired fighter pilot hopes to inspire the next generation of aviators, especially those of color. In 2019, nearly 700,000 people attended the conference. 

Over the course of his 30-year career in the Air Force, McGee fought in three wars and became the first Black man to command a stateside Air Force wing and a base in the integrated Air Force. He was one of 900 Black pilots who trained at the segregated Tuskegee airfield in Alabama, overcoming racism to fly patrols during World War II."

 Full story is HERE.

 

This is The Last Week For The 44th Montgomery Art Guild Museum Exhibition!

 The Exhibit will be open through August 1st....

 Tue. – Sat. 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

 Sun. 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

 

 I was pleased that two of three photos I entered were selected by the juror, Dr. Jury Castenell, and became part of the exhibit. '

 

 

 "A Second Talk"

 

 and 

 

"Union on Guard".

 

You can also take a virtual tour through the exhibit HERE.

The Mobile-Born SuperSoaker

     CBS Sunday Morning reported today about Lonnie Johnson---the Mobile native engineer who invented the SuperSoaker toy. At last count he had a net worth of $360-Million. Watch the story HERE.

VOX report: Murders are up across the country, but LESS of an increase in The South!

 

Murders are up. Crime is not. What’s going on?

The US is in its most violent period in the 21st century. There are some things we know — and others we don’t.

 

VOX report is HERE. 

Cereus Update for Sunday 7-25-21

 

 The bloom has stated to make it's upward turn...as you can see here. That will continue till it is pointing upward, positioning itself for blooming some night in the next few days...I'm guessing Tuesday night...about 11:00PM...then dying the next morning.

 

 

Coincidentally I came across an article on the website "WestHawaiiToday" about the cerus plants...much more native to Hawaii than Alabama. A good read if I have not over-cerused you so far. 😊 Read it HERE.

Ties! Goodby ties?

 The Atlantic has picked up on the "men's ties are dead" campaign:

 

"Ties have slowly disappeared from red carpets, a trend led by a new generation of Hollywood stars such as Jared Leto, John Boyega, Donald Glover, and Harry Styles. The presidential candidate Andrew Yang leaned into his dot-com roots by showing up to the first Democratic debate of 2019 without a tie—a political milestone that launched not one but two Twitter accounts purporting to be the missing garment."

 

FULL Story HERE.

 

 

  I went for many years working in radio during which I hardly ever wore a tie...

 

 

...to another 25 years or so working in TV in which I wore one virtually every day.

    

 

 

 

 

 The photo below shows me moving my then-small tie collection from APT to my eventual next job at CBS 8/ABC 32 in 2009 when the network eliminated a number of jobs, including mine.

     The collection grew considerably in the decade after that, and I now have between 200 and 300 of them hanging with my suits and shirts. There must be a way to auction them off for charity...or for me? 😊

Thank You Montgomery Sanitation!

      This has been a busy period for utilities on my street. The Alabama Power company is replacing some old wood poles.

 

      The Spire Gas Company is replacing the lines that run from the main in the middle of the street to each house. That's their equipment in the background of the photo

     And the Water Works has been digging deep holes in the street like this one...

 

     On top of that...I'm expecting a large item delivery today. Whew.

Glad to report the sanitation department truck backed into the block to make the collection (I had called to give them a heads up, but great job guys!)...and the delivery guy from Harrell's was great too....yea, just one of them...but he hauled the clothes dryer around like it was nothing.

So the situation has quieted a bit! And as I wrote that a loud thunder clap!

Happy Friday!

Night Blooming Cereus Update Friday 7-23-21

 

Happy to report the bloom is progressing nicely, with no change in color. I suspect we are still days away from the late-at-night actual opening of the bloom.

 

Full Moon Weekend

 

From CBS News:

"From Friday night into Saturday morning, the full moon will move toward Saturn, with the planet appearing about 8 degrees above the moon in the southwest by morning twilight. Throughout the weekend, the moon will appear to shift further and further away. 

This summer is jam-packed with celestial wonders. Saturn will be at its closest and brightest on August 2, while Jupiter will be at its closest and brightest on August 19, known as "opposition." 

With clear conditions and a telescope, Jupiter's four bright moons, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io will be visible. Saturn's rings, and its largest moon, Titan, can also be spotted during this time. 

For meteor showers, the Southern Delta-Aquariids are active from around July 12 to August 23, peaking on July 30. But the much more impressive Perseid meteor shower runs from July 17 to August 24, peaking on the afternoon of August 12."

 

FULL STORY is HERE.

Hmmm, What Could It Be??????? Hmmmm?????

 There's a lot of hand wringing going on in two places that are 4535.4 miles apart.

First up: Norway! Female members of the Norway handball team are fed up.

The International Handball Federation requires women to wear bikini bottoms “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg.” The sides of the bikini bottoms must be no more than four inches. Men, on the other hand, can wear shorts as long as four inches above their knees as long as they are “not too baggy.”

A spokeswoman for the International Handball Federation, Jessica Rockstroh, said on Tuesday that she did not know the reason for the rules. “We’re looking into it internally,” she said.

                                                                        (From a N.Y. Times story)

 

What could it be? Hmmmm. Why might there be a difference between the uniforms for men and those for women?

 

 

 

Meanwhile across the Atlantic Ocean, here in Alabama,  Oh NO!!!!!!

Tuskegee officials have shut down the town square because of DANGER from a confederate statue that Councilman Johnny Ford tried to tear down two week ago. Now other city officials are crying about it being A DANGER!!! And we can't have that, can we? 

 

We may not be able to protect you from being hurt if the statue falls, but we can at least protect you from reading foul language spray painted on the statue by vandals!

     The statue belongs to Tuskegee County (for some reason), so today the county and the city will meet separately and decide "WHAT TO DO?????"

     There is a lot of hand wringing going on in Tuskegee too. 

     The city paid for safety reports about the statue from two companies (TWO!) and both (" WE AGREE!!!) say it is a danger to hurt someone if it falls down!!!! (which you can say about just about anything.)

    (Democratic) Mayor Lawrence Haygood even compares the statue to the condo building that fell down recently:

“Just like the situation in Florida, you can’t ignore a report that says you’ve got an unsafe condition,” Haygood said. “Its our responsibility to do something about it.”

     What could that something be? Hmmmmmm. I wonder what they could do? Hmmmm?

     Has anyone asked Alabama's Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall? He and Republican Governor Ivey are the ones trying to protect confederate stuff. What do they suggest? Hmmmm?

"Historic" Route 66?

 

When I hear the name "Route 66" I  think COOL!

But now there's an effort to make it Historic too. 

Urge Your Representative to Support National Historic Trail Designation for Route 66

Designating Route 66 as a National Historic Trail will have a significant economic impact in the eight states along the iconic route and help spur critical preservation efforts in the hundreds of communities that call it home. Most importantly, it will help preserve Route 66 as a vital, iconic, and evolving piece of Americana for generations to come. 
 
Contact your House representative and ask them to support the bill establishing the Route 66 National Historic Trail (H.R. 3600) to ensure House passage this year. 

 

Now listed to the Nelson Riddle theme song from the TV Show HERE. If you remember that, you are, like myself, old!😊

 

Update on Night Blooming Cereus....

 

Looks healthy this 7-21-21, and ready for a several day enlargement. This is a point at which they can suddenly turn pinkish and die.

This is what we're waiting on...about a week away!. This bloom if from a couple of years ago.

It will die the next morning. A short-lived beauty!
 

Medicaid is 56 Years Old and Needs to be Expanded in Alabama

 

 

Sign the Alabama Arise petition for Governor Ivey HERE.

COVID19 caused Lower Life Expectancy in the U.S.

 

Over the past 160 years, life expectancy (from birth) in the United States has risen from 39.4 years in 1860, to 78.9 years in 2020. One of the major reasons for the overall increase of life expectancy in the last two centuries is the fact that the infant and child mortality rates have decreased by so much during this time. Medical advancements, fewer wars and improved living standards also mean that people are living longer than they did in previous centuries.
Despite this overall increase, the life expectancy dropped three times since 1860; from 1865 to 1870 during the American Civil War, from 1915 to 1920 during the First World War and following Spanish Flu epidemic, and it has dropped again between 2015 and now. The reason for the most recent drop in life expectancy is not a result of any specific event, but has been attributed to negative societal trends, such as unbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles, high medical costs, and increasing rates of suicide and drug use.

 Source is HERE.

AND Covid19 has caused another drop: 1.5 years, reports NPR HERE.

 

No College Degree? Welcome to The Alabama and U.S. Majority.

 75% of The Alabama Population has less than a bachelor's degree.

From an Opinion column in today's Washington Post:

 "These three seemingly innocuous words — “bachelor’s degree required” — are causing serious damage to our workers and economy. The damage falls hardest on Black, Latino and rural workers — screening for bachelor’s degrees excludes nearly 80 percent of Latino workers, almost 70 percent of African Americans and more than 70 percent of rural Americans across all backgrounds. The impact is particularly damaging for midmarket and smaller businesses, which struggle to find workers while the highest-profile companies poach pedigreed employees from one another and from their own suppliers and customers. Blocking advancement for such a large part of our workforce is economically toxic."

Populations with a college degree:

59.67% in Washington, D.C.

32.51% in Georgia

25.5% of the Alabama population has a bachelors degree or higher.

23.3% in Arkansas

22.31% in Mississippi

21.05% in West Virginia

 Map source: HERE.